German officials said Tuesday that the country’s natural gas situation could be “tensioned” and worsened shortly after the government invoked the “warning level” of its emergency gas program.
among them Gas supply reportThe Federal Network Agency, also known as Bundesnetzagentur, has announced that it “is very close to the situation and is in constant contact with companies in the gas industry.”
“The situation is tense and we cannot rule out the deterioration of the situation,” he said.
However, he emphasized that Germany’s gas supply is now stable and that Germany’s supply security continues to be “protected”.
According to the agency, facilities across Germany currently have storage levels of just over 60%, “may be significantly higher than in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2021” (pdf).
Officials said the storage level at the Rehden facility in northern Germany, one of the largest pore storage facilities in Western Europe, was 16.59 percent.
However, Bundesnetzagentur pointed out that the gas flow from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the main pipeline that transports natural gas from Russia to Germany, has been reduced to about 40% of its maximum capacity.
This reduction came after Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom stated in early June that it was reducing the flow of natural gas due to technical problems. State on Twitter Germany’s Siemens Energy was unable to return the gas compressor unit “on time” after being sent for repair.
Sound an alarm
Germany is Russia’s largest importer of gas in the world, with about 35 percent of its natural gas coming from transcontinental countries.
Following the announcement of Gazprom after a series of western sanctions against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany Ministry of Economy said The country’s natural gas supply is still “guaranteed” and “unchanged.”
However, on June 23, Germany triggered an “alarm phase” of a three-level gas emergency program aimed at protecting against shortages.
The final stage of the plan will require the distribution of gas supplies nationwide, which has not yet been triggered.
Federal Minister for Economic and Climate Action Robert Habeck said, “Currently, even if it is still possible to buy and store large quantities of gas in the market, the situation is serious and winter will come.”
“You can’t pretend to be anything else. Decreasing gas supply is Putin’s attack on our economy. Sprinkling uncertainty, pushing up prices and disrupting our society is clearly Putin. We are defending against this. But we have to take a difficult path as a country. Even if we haven’t felt it yet, we are in the midst of a gas crisis. In the future, gas will be a rare asset. “
To offset the decline in gas supply from Russia prior to the potential energy crisis this winter, Germany has decided to reopen its abolished coal-fired power plant.
“We are returning coal-fired power plants to the market and reducing gas consumption. This is a pain because coal-fired power plants are simply toxic to the climate, but saving gas. To survive the winter, we have to do it during the transition period, “says Havek.
The country has also vowed to reduce Russia’s dependence on energy.
The Kremlin, meanwhile, argues that Russia is a credible energy supplier and “strictly fulfills all obligations” to Europe.
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Katabella Roberts is a reporter currently based in Turkey. She focuses primarily on the United States and covers the news and business of The Epoch Times.